Pakistan's oldest spy trick: Here is how the games are played

New Delhi, Dec 1: When a spy is launched into India from Pakistan, there is often a lot of hype about the information he or she provides about sensitive locations so that terror strikes can be carried out.

However, is that the information that the ISI is really looking for the most. While it is one part of the job, investigations over the past several years have found that the information that these persons look for the most is relating to the movement of troops.

The spies of Pakistan often tend to plant a mole in the defence establishment. They pay them money so that information relating to movement of troops can be provided.

In addition to this they also plant the spies at railway stations so that real time information about the movement of a battalion from one state to another can be provided.

The oldest spy trick:

The easiest way to source information regarding the movement of soldiers is to call the station master. Around ten years back when there were no stringent guidelines in place, a spy would make a call to the station master and ask if a battalion of soldiers had arrived at the railway station and what time would the train leave to the next destination.

The station master would often give out this information as the caller would either address himself as Brigadier Verma or Colonel Sharma. The station master would never risk asking for further information on the caller as he would be scared of being pulled up for questioning a "senior official."

However, today things have changed and station masters have been specifically told to ask for additional information from the caller.

Moreover, an officer seeking out such information would have a unique code and only if the same is provided will the information be given out.

Information relating to movement of troops is crucial for the Pakistan military so that they can gear their soldiers up in advance.

However, with calling and seeking information becoming tougher today, the ISI has started to deploy its spies in the railway stations who would be able to hand out information.

It is slower and harder when compared to the calling trick, but it does provide them with information.

Sometimes it is just a game:

Spy agencies not always are looking for hardcore information. Many times they seek out information only with an intention of embarrassing a rival spy agency.

Take for instance the incident that took place after the Dilsukhnagar blasts in Hyderabad. The ISI sought out information on whether the NSG team had moved to Hyderabad or not.

This information regarding the movement of NSG forces was of no use to the ISI and yet they sought it out. One caller telephoned the NSG office in New Delhi and asked whether the forces had moved to Hyderabad or not. The answer the caller got was, "not yet, but will be moving in sometime."

What the ISI did was leak this information out to the media in a bid to show the mechanism in poor light. This incident was just aimed at playing the usual spy game in which the only intention is to embarrass a rival country.